JD Performance +2 Standard Travel A-Arms

Posted by 4Nines on May 19, 2010 under +2 arms, A-Arms, ATV Products, JD Performance, Raptor, Raptor 700, Yamaha Raptor 700, suspension | Comments are off for this article

One of the first things people should consider modding on their quads should be the suspension.  All the power in the world won’t matter if your suspension is not up to the task.  With that said, one of my first mods was a set of JD Performance +2 Standard travel front A-arms for my Raptor. These arms retail for $575.  The order went smooth, I gave the guys at JD Performance a call and they were more then helpful.  I chatted with the rep for almost an hour, trying to figure out which setup would be best for me and he did not seem in a rush to get me off the phone.  I have to say, good people there.

Anyways, the arms took a few weeks to arrive.  Once I got them and opened the box I was excited, they looked great.  The tig welds were nice and consistent and smooth and the custom silver powder coat looked great.  What really impressed me about the JD Performance arms were the details.  I found little gussets for strength at the shock mounts and where the cross member on the lower arms come back to the main hoop.  These arms are well thought out and built to last.  You don’t find that from all the fab shops making arms for quads.

Moving on to the install, it was a pretty easy install that most people can do in a few hours in their garage with a few standard tools.  The one tool I did need to purchase was a ball joint separator from the local auto parts store for $10.  Next was to start pulling the old arms off.  When removing the stock spindles from the stock arms, be careful not to damage the ball joint boots.  Once the old arms are off and the new arms are on, the first thing you need to do is adjust the tow, caster and camber.  The JD Performance arms were super easy to adjust, and if I had any questions there were instructions on their site at www.jdperformance.net for all the adjustments.  One thing I found pretty cool on these arms was the slick way to adjust the camber, there were three settings, Desert, Woods and MX.  I went with the Woods setting because it is the most neutral setting.  One other thing I always recommend when you are installing extended arms is, extended brake lines.  In my case I could have used the stock Raptor 700 lines because they were long enough, but they seemed to be stretching a little when I tested it lock to lock of the steering.  I think the $40 on extended steel braided front lines is worth it and they look cool too.

It’s been about a year now since I did this install and I have really enjoyed my new suspension up front.  At the time of the install of the arms I also sent my front stock shocks out to have them re-valved to work with my new extended arms.  I find that in the past with the stock arms when I had to let off because of rutted out terrain I now keep it pinned without any worry.  The bike is defiantly more stable because of the extra 4” of width but the extra travel is nice to.   I have ridden everything from the massive sand of Glamis to the rutted out muddy Michigan trails and I am very happy with these arms.  I cant say enough about the JD Performance experience, from the great sales team I talked to on the phone, to the easy install and adjustments, to the great product, I have to say these arms are the nicest set of aftermarket A-arms I have ever owned, and I have had a few.  Check out the JD Performance site or give them a call, not only do they build A-arm kits, they also build custom swingarms, steering stems and much more.  Give JD Performance a call.

Review by: Tim Coffey